Ever since Tim Storm founded the FatWallet community in his basement, FatWallet’s goal has been to bring the most value to consumers seeking to maximize their spending power. It all began with the forums, where people gathered to work together to find deals and improve upon them. Later, we added Cash Back to help monetize the system and to give members an added bonus. Through the years, FatWallet has continued to change, but our task of empowering savvy shopping remained.

Recently, we have realized that we can become stronger by working more closely with our sister company, Ebates. We both have our strengths, and we believe that by focusing on those strengths and working together we can achieve new levels of benefit for our users.

Ebates does Cash Back better than anyone else! As the leader in the Cash Back marketplace, Ebates negotiates some of the best Cash Back rates. They also have retailers partnering with them who don't partner with other sites, including FatWallet.

FatWallet does deals and community really well. We have a base of committed deal hunters who post deals every day, staff to support the deal-finding endeavor, and tools that source deals from thousands of sources. If we focus on this, we can take sourcing a community with deals to a whole new level.

In order to allow members to take advantage of the best of both worlds, FatWallet will end its Cash Back program.As of Tuesday, May 10th 2016, FatWallet will no longer offer Cash Back for purchases made through us. We will specialize in deal hunting and transition the Cash Back role to Ebates.

For those of you who want to take advantage of this new partnership, we will help you make the transition as seamless as possible. If you transfer your FatWallet Cash Back balance over to an Ebates Cash Back account, we will give you a $10 bonus in your transferred Ebates account. Bonus awarded with qualifying purchases totaling at least $25 within 90 days of transfer.

Once you are set up, here's how you can make FatWallet and Ebates work for you:

The result: best deals, best prices, best Cash Back (aka, minimum effort/maximum gain).

On FatWallet we will prioritize all our resources towards improving your deal hunting and community experience. FW ToGo is a great example of this. The FW ToGo browser extension allows you not only to post deals directly from a store's product page, but also to read and participate in our ongoing community's discussion. And this is just the start!

We see this as a win-win for everyone. Both businesses get to focus on what they do best, build off of each other, and do our best to help our members to have more money in their pockets at the end of the day.

If you have any questions, feel free to ask. I'm going to try to tackle a few key ones in advance that I think may come up.Q&A

Q: When is Cash Back ending?A: Cash Back functionality on FatWallet is ending Tuesday, May 10th,2016. Any shopping on that date will no longer be Cash Back eligible. To continue to receive Cash Back from Ebates, we recommend using the Ebates Cash Back Button on your browser. It will work in conjunction to deal finding on FatWallet.

Q: What happens to my Available Cash Back? A: You've earned it; you keep it. We just need you to tell us what you want us to do with it. You have two options: You can transfer your balance to our sister company Ebates and earn a $10 bonus, or you can request immediate payment. If you transfer to eBates, please note the next quarterly payment is on August 15th.

Q: What happens to my Pending Cash Back? A: Again, if you earned it, you keep it. In this case, we will assume that you earned it and just give it to you. We are honoring pending Cash Back and have added it to your total Available Cash Back Balance.

Q: I have a travel booking/pre-order not reporting till November! (pre-order, etc). How will I earn that Cash Back on it?A: Don't worry. We'll work with you on this. Bookings before the transition remain eligible. You can still earn your Cash Back once your trip is complete.

Q: I don't have a Cash Back balance, can I still get the special $10 transfer bonus for joining Ebates?A: Sorry, but the $10 bonus is only for transferring a balance. If, however, you sign for a new account with Ebates, you can take advantage of their sign-up bonus. To do so, click here and then "Join Now". Note: make sure your eBates password is 12 letters or shorter.

Q: When will I see my $10 bonus in my Ebates Account?A: Your bonus will appear in your Ebates account once Ebates orders totaling $25 have been reported by the merchant.

Q: What about FatWallet Express? Will it still work?A: No, FatWallet Express Cash Back functionality will no longer be available. You can download the Ebates Button for your Cash Back needs. Click here to learn more.

Q: If I transfer my balance to Ebates, will it then be subject to terms for Ebates accounts?A: Yes. Once the balance is transferred to an Ebates account, it acts as any normal Ebates account, which includes pay schedules and minimums.

Q: What about "pending" Cash Back? Is there a threshold with regards to how much you will automatically add to my available balance?A: Yes, there is a threshold to what is automatically added from "pending" to "available". If you have $20 or less in pending Cash Back, then we will treat it as if it is available when you cash out. If it is more than that, we will need to allow it to mature to available as normal. Keep in mind that you will still have access to your CB account, so you can simply cash it out or transfer it later.

For some clarity through numbers:

If you have $30 in available CB and $15 in pending CB, the full amount of $45 will be available to you to transfer or cash out.

If you have $30 in available CB and $22 in pending, then $30 will be available for transfer or cash out. The $22 pending will need to become available normally, at which point it can be cashed out separately or transferred.

Do I only get the "pending" cash back if I transfer? I chose to cash out instead and it only allows me to cash out my earned, and not my pending.Seems to contradict your FAQ:Q: What happens to my Pending Cash Back? A: Again, if you earned it, you keep it. In this case, we will assume that you earned it and just give it to you. We are honoring pending Cash Back and have added it to your total Available Cash Back Balance.

robby69 said: Do I only get the "pending" cash back if I transfer? I chose to cash out instead and it only allows me to cash out my earned, and not my pending.Seems to contradict your FAQ:Q: What happens to my Pending Cash Back? A: Again, if you earned it, you keep it. In this case, we will assume that you earned it and just give it to you. We are honoring pending Cash Back and have added it to your total Available Cash Back Balance.

Good question. We just looked at this, and see what you're saying. It does indeed only show your current "available" amount when cashing out. Even though it only displays the "available" amount, when we pay out (either through PayPal or check), we will include the "pending" amount. So, to answer your question, no, you do not only get the "pending" cash back if you transfer. You also get it if you cash out (even it if isn't currently displaying).

I haven't done a CB transaction through FW in almost a year. I've generally found Ebates to be more competitive and have better promo offers than FW, and there are many other sites out there that often have better rates still...

Anyway, this doesn't seem like a bad idea because of this. Focus on the strengths? Great. Does that mean better consistency, standards, and transparency will be applied to the FW forums?

jasmithvr6 said: I just went through my Click History and found an unreported transaction. I submitted a service request, but what will happen to that transaction?

We will still do investigations for Cash-Back eligible transactions you have already made. Someone will look into this and see why it didn't report for you. Hang in there until someone can get to your Support Ticket.

Never cared for ebates so not happy. The employees here are the best, most helpful I have ever dealt with in the cyber world. Not to mention ebates has minimum amount payouts and only quarterly. That alone was worth a sometimes slightly lower cashback percent.

I've been here for over 13 years and and didn't go anywhere else because I like the community here and cashback was also good.When cashback is cancelled, I will have to shop around to see what site offers the best cashback.. something that I really didn't want to do when looking for a deal.

This change just divided your user base into two. Those who care for a community, and those who care for a deal. Both might not care for the same parent company.. like how you might have visioned.

If I have to go find a deal at one place and then go to another site for the click-through to get cashback, what's the incentive to go to that other site vs many others that offer cashback. $10? I don't know whether that's a good incentive for me.

Some excellent questions here have led to the need for clarification regarding transfers and payouts for pending Cash Back.

If you have $20 or less in pending Cash Back, then we will treat it as if it is available when you cash out. If it is more than that, we will need to allow it to mature to available as normal. Keep in mind that you will still have access to your CB account, so you can simply cash it out or transfer it later.

For some clarity through numbers:

If you have $30 in available CB and $15 in pending CB, the full amount of $45 will be available to you to transfer or cash out.

If you have $30 in available CB and $22 in pending, then $30 will be available for transfer or cash out. The $22 pending will need to become available normally, at which point it can be cashed out separately or transferred.

foxhopper said: Never cared for ebates so not happy. The employees here are the best, most helpful I have ever dealt with in the cyber world. Not to mention ebates has minimum amount payouts and only quarterly. That alone was worth a sometimes slightly lower cashback percent.

Thanks Fatwallet for an overall great experience over the years....

The forums, Best Deals, and affiliate content teams have been run by long time FatWallet employees since we first partnered with Ebates & we expect that to continue for the foreseeable future.

The current Ebates Cash Back customer service team was built up around an existing core of FatWallet customer service, so that excellence in service is something we brought with us when we joined the Ebates family.

I can't offer any reassurances about the shopping experience or payment schedule, but the people should pretty much be the same as those you have come to know over the past decade or so.

Lurker1999 said: I accidentally clicked the transfer button and it apparently created a new Ebates account for me? I have an existing Ebates account already. It did not give me any opportunity to merge the accounts.

I can't say that I "accidentally" clicked on it since I purposely did. I wrongfully assumed I would need to long in to indicate what my eBates account was.Instead it said my FW cashback was transferred but who knows to where. I see no indication of any cash transferred to my existing eBates account.How do you know a new account was created and where can I find this account?

rushhound said: Lurker1999 said: I accidentally clicked the transfer button and it apparently created a new Ebates account for me? I have an existing Ebates account already. It did not give me any opportunity to merge the accounts. I can't say that I "accidentally" clicked on it since I purposely did. I wrongfully assumed I would need to long in to indicate what my eBates account was.Instead it said my FW cashback was transferred but who knows to where. I see no indication of any cash transferred to my existing eBates account.How do you know a new account was created and where can I find this account?

Sorry you ran into difficulties during the transfer. If this happens, we'll be glad to help you sort everything out. Someone will shoot you a PM.

I'm fairly new to Ebates but one thing I've noticed is that there's no 'Pending' selection in Ebate's cash back menu. The 'Shopping Trip' seems akin to click history, not a "We actually saw you buy something, Be patient" listing.

I only say this is because my 1st purchase via EB, I received cash back in just a couple of days, and I have 3 more purchases (including 1 from that same quick-turn around store) that I have to keep remembering to 'Contact Customer Service' about some time in the near future. Some of us are likely to forget to follow up.

FW cashback has not been competitive with ebates and Discover for some time now. I can't remember the last time I used it. The only thing I liked better about it was that you could cash out quickly as opposed to have to wait until the end of the quarter (and then some) with ebates.

Thank you FatWallet. This makes total sense to me. I've already started using Ebates more because, just like you said, they do cashback better than anyone else. I think my wife has earned $600 back from them over the years. Thanks for the extra $10. You didn't have to offer that, but you did. Pretty good customer service in my opinion. Keep it up and I'll keep coming back (here and Ebates)!

The first thing I bought through fatwallet maybe 10+ years ago was a treadmill at Dick's. I thought I won the Internet lottery finding this website. I loved it. I told anyone who would listen. I have never used eBates and now forced to, will do so begrudgingly.

I'm sure this was a business decision and your users wishes were secondary, but would have appreciated an email, a notice of some kind or a user poll, not just the day of the decision.

hammer45 said: Just wish eBates had my CB history pushed over as well.....felt really proud for getting over $4k back in fatcash over the years. Now I'm just a number at eBates.

Not at all. We are literally under the same roof, and in fact work side-by-side. Ebates does an awesome job when it comes to customer service, and what little they don't know, we'll be sure to school them. Please keep an open heart and mind.

savenicky said: I made two purchases going through the Ebates links but I got no credit. They don't even have the click history to check. I'm not going to bother any more.I'm going to miss Fatwallet cashback!! Hello,

You should have a click history. In Ebates they are called 'Shopping Trips.' So, please do return to Ebates and look for the 'Shopping Trips' in the dropdown. It will show all Cash Back trips and you should be able to submit a support request.

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